I thought we’d continue lovely February with a little romance and wedding update.

After all… Valentine’s Day just happened! I’m sure a few of YOU most certainly got a ring on your finger. 🙂

I know, I’m totally out of order… We will get to the second half of my wedding dress update soon. But right now let’s talk ENGAGEMENT PARTY.

Getting engaged is super exciting, right?! You’ve finally made it to the home stretch as a couple and are heading down the finish line!

SO… what stands in the way?

Oh yeah, like 7869359 things to do in preparation for all of the celebrations you’re expected to have.

Engagement certainly does come with a lot of strings attached, doesn’t it? I mean one second you’re planning your lives together, cuddling, taking a moment for just the two of you. And the next? The gates open wide, welcoming a flood of expectation, hard work and socializing up until the moment you say I DO.

Tradition, family and friends are the gate keepers who allow the flooding to begin if you ask me. I think this is a fantastic metaphor (created by yours truly so don’t judge me too harshly lol) since I am now in the middle of the flood.

Lucky for me, my family and friends have been super supportive and closed of mouth in giving me any sort of advice or bossiness.

Seriously, who am I kidding, they all know it’s pointless to argue with me- I’m the OCD, knows exactly what she wants girl who pretty much gets things done exactly how she wants them to be done and when she wants them to be done hahaha. 

And now back to what I was saying about tradition…

The good thing about today’s society is that we are getting more and more away from certain traditions invented by the “you know who’s” and “who the heck were they” people of the past.

I mean, for crying out loud, who decided there was only “one correct” way to fold napkins, address envelopes and set a dining table? If you ask me, these people had WAY too much time on their hands.

Don’t get me wrong, I do very much like and appreciate certain traditions. But I also believe that when it comes to your wedding, you should throw expectation and suggestion out the door. Do whatever the f*$% makes you and your fiance’ happy and remember that in the end, it’s all about the two of you. NEVER EVER LOSE SIGHT OF THAT.

Keep focusing on the two of you and keep in mind the goal of living a happy, fabulous life together as long as you both shall live. The last thing your fiance’ needs is a bridezilla going ‘A wall’ on him. Remember ladies, the only thing your man really cares about is YOU… aka, food, sex and companionship.

SO… let’s get started on expectation numero uno, shall we?

THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY.

I had a vision for my engagement, wedding and everything else in between, WAY WAY WAY before I met Anton. Lucky for me, my soon-to-be is busy studying quantum physics and super crazy beyond my brain stuff (LOL) so he is very easy going when it comes to party planning.

He lets me do everything.

Challenging but definitely to your advantage when you’re as slightly controlling and OCD as me, HA HA HA. But we actually did talk about my vision (I twisted his arm, kinda literally LOL) and luckily we were totally on the same page.

Let the planning begin.

Oh and did I mention we started planning this like 265 days after we got engaged? We broke with tradition from the start. And you know what? It feels sooo good lol. Not to fail to mention we definitely hit a few road blocks preventing our planning until a later date, but I’ll save that for an entirely separate blog. (That story is definitely worthy of it’s own criminal investigation if you ask me hint hint.)

My vision was simple. I wanted a simple, elegant, easy going gathering of our closest friends and family. Because we had decided on a very small, intimate destination wedding I thought we could make our engagement party the big “local” version of our wedding party so that all of our friends would be included.

Now by “big” I mean a little over 60 people were invited to our engagement party. Too often I’ve attended these huge parties where the host and hostess are too busy to socialize and say hi to even their closest of friends. They have zero time to actually enjoy their moment, their celebration. In total I think we wound up having 50 guests show up. Some were sick and others flaked. (You know how it is- there are always a few flakey people in the mix of close friends.) To be on the safe side, just plan for about 10% of your rsvp’s to not make it.

My simple vision included a party on the croquet lawn at the fabulous Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in our hometown of San Diego. I’ve been going there for about 15 years now and I am a HUGE fan. Their recent remodel did wonders for the place. The Pony Room is a super chic, hip addition as well as their new adult pool bar, Rein. And I LOVE the fact that the resort is tucked away in the seculded Eucalyptus forests of Rancho Santa Fe. The place screams horsey vibes which as we all know I can’t get enough of.

I’m a total outdoors person and so is Anton. I think that’s definitely something you need to ask yourselves when planning your engagement party or wedding. It’s a super important question when picking a venue! I really wanted our venue to cry “Anton and Shanna” to our friends and family. And I think everyone there got the message.

As you all know by now, I bring my yorkies almost everywhere I go. We couldn’t have our engagement party without our children! Part of Rancho Valencia’s charm is how pet friendly they are. So naturally the outdoor vibe and pet friendliness of the place had me hook, line and sinker! Vasco and Bushmill are regulars there with us 🙂 .

 

 

So I had the guest list down to 60, the venue chosen to reflect us and our style and a place that welcomed our four legged children. Next on the list? Food and beverages of course!

I am a big health nut as you know. Naturally, so is the rest of my family. And I got sooo lucky with Anton because he is too! It’s only natural that the food and drinks we chose for our guests would also be among the healthiest of choices.

I would never try to make anyone be healthy or live a lifestyle they don’t want to live. I will never judge or preach or tell you my way is the only way. I believe there are many ways to live and be healthy- we just need to find what works for us! BUT at our parties, I like to serve HEALTHY SIMPLE LIGHT DISHES because they’re a reflection of who Anton and I are.

So for party food Anton and I chose a combination of tray passed hot and cold hors d’oeuvres (some with salmon or tuna), an assortment of cheeses, vegetables, antipasto, hummus, nuts and light crackers. The perfect finger food, easy to manage for guests.

The worst is when you’re at a party trying to eat a taco as it completely disintegrates in one big mess all over the place, right?

For drinks we chose two signature his and her cocktails to welcome guests, a blueberry mojito with blanco tequila instead of rum and a cucumber mint cooler. I wanted the drinks to be on the lighter side and feel refreshing. I also wanted them to look pretty and clean! I chose blanco tequila over the rum because it’s the healthier of the two, and we chose Tito’s gluten free vodka for the cucumber coolers keeping our gluten intolerant guests in mind. We also had an open bar for those who wanted wine, beer, champagne and other cocktails. We offered plenty of non alcoholic beverages too.

Okay, so I hate it when people ask for a bottle of water, drink two sips and leave the rest. It’s such a waste of plastic and water, ugh! So for our party I opted for spring water in a giant glass pitcher served with muddled oranges and lemons. This way people could fill their glass as high or low as they wanted without wasting so much. We also offered a large iced tea pitcher and sparkling water at the bar. Not to mention the glass pitchers looked quite elegant sitting atop the tables.

A big shout out to Rancho Valencia for their pet friendliness, food, drinks and service! We had a minor hiccup at the bar with one of our drink orders but their catering manager too care of it! The food was healthy and delicious, just the way I wanted it.

SO let’s talk about themes and decorations next! When you’ve got your guest list down, your venue, your food and drinks, you need to spice things up with your own style!

I’m a dramatic person. I love creativity and plays and productions and history. Our wedding venue reflects my style. We are getting married in a 17th centure villa in Italy. So I wanted to somehow blend the two themes of drama and Italy for our party but not overshadow the party. Does this make sense?

One day when I was brainstorming, the Venetiain Carnival popped into my mind. I thought it would be so fun to decorate and take some pictures with masquerade masks, Venetian style. So after hours and hours of googling the best masks, I found some.

Of course the one set of masks I order on ebay, my first ebay order ever mind you, come in the wrong color seven days before our party! So guess who has to go to the arts and craft store to gather all the paint and glitter to re-do the masks. Oh and Anton made such fun of me. I almost went A-wall on him when he asked what was wrong with the other color. I needed my decorations to match our colors! Aqua, silver and white was the theme. Naturally! I certainly stick to my brand always, don’t I?

As you can see I used some masks for decoration and others for our guests. We enjoyed photos and took a big group one towards the end of the evening. The masks also made a great party favor for guests to take home and remember our event.

I’d say we had a lot of fun putting our masks on and posing! I chose a wide variety of colors so there was something for everyone’s taste. 🙂

Hmmm what else am I missing?…

Oh yes!…

When I host a party, I prefer to do more than just talk, eat and drink. What I love about Rancho Valencia’s croquet lawn is that they have several “games” you can play. Guests got to eat, mingle, play, drink and eat! You know me, the more I can fit into life the better hahaha. The pétanque game is particularly fun for groups to play- we had a battle of the sexes going on!

SO much to say, am I forgetting anything?

Ahh yes, always, always, always be sure to have a photographer! I actually had two because my regular photographer was out of town and I hired new-to-me photographers. They were good, phew! But I highly recommend knowing the work of who you are going to use. I LOVE having photos of my life as a way to remember things and look back on them. Memories are very important to me so having great photos is a must!

Saying goodbye is the hardest part of hosting a great party! But at some point, your venue wants you and your guests out of there.

Anton and I picked a time of day for our party so that our guests would be able to enjoy the sun and its setting a few hours later. I just love candles so as the light started to fade, staff lit all of our candles. It turned out to be quite a romantic touch, Since our wedding is in Italy, it gave off a very outdoorsy European vibe. And our Venetian masks added a touch of drama which you know I love!

We didn’t even need to hint goodbye to our guests. Having the sun set on your outdoor venue with a touch of drama is the perfect way to end a fabulous party. And of course we gave everyone the option of joining us in the Pony Room for some more fun, food and cocktails!

WOW this is the world’s LONGEST POST EVER. Sorry guys! I hope you got something out of it!

Bottom line, there are sooo many ways to get creative and host your engagement party while being YOU. Throw tradition to the wind and make your party everything you desire.

Stay tuned for ways to budget and cut costs when planning your engagement party… part two of our engagement series to follow!

Cheers to your engagement and successful planning!

xx Shanna